Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 532 - Three Hundred and Forty-Three: I

Chapter 532: Chapter Three Hundred and Forty-Three: I

Xu Yuan’s brows furrowed slightly, his expression revealing a touch of strangeness.

He understood that the imperial family was the most ruthless of all, but it was his first time hearing about the bloodshed beneath the glittering facade of the golden throne, and it unsettled him.

Thirteen...

These were not strangers, but his own beloved kin.

Seeing Xu Yuan’s expression, Li Junqing raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, laughing nonchalantly:

"That number is only the ones I know of, there could be more unknown to me."

As he spoke, his voice carried a hint of sighs and relief:

"Luckily, I was born into a favorable situation, no one dares to provoke my mother. Otherwise, whether I could have even been born alive would have been a question."

In the cold, snowy night, Xu Yuan exhaled a breath of white mist, his smile ambiguous:

"Your family, they really are cold-blooded."

Li Junqing’s smile remained unchanged, he stared meaningfully at him for a few moments, then suddenly laughed:

"Changtian, if your family doesn’t fall, you’ll probably end up the same as mine."

"The same as your family?"

Xu Yuan chuckled lightly and waved off his hand, "Yunqing, are you hinting at something?"

"..."

Li Junqing hissed, "Don’t play that game. We’re brothers in true heart exchange. This is the inevitable path for the continuation of every great family."

Having said this,

Li Junqing rubbed his wrist:

"You should know that a large part of the Xu Residence’s wealth actually comes from the original Feng Family, right?"

Xu Yuan stared at him:

"Of course, I’m aware of that."

When his father first came to the Imperial Capital, his literary and military strategies were the best of his age. After Li Yaoxuan ascended the throne and appointed him as Minister of Revenue, he took the ministerial position and then married my mother, the eldest miss of the Feng Family.

Of course, although it’s said that he married into the Feng Family, it was actually he who joined their family.

After all, the Feng Family was a genuine and powerful sect at that time, having produced two Empresses and four Imperial Noble Consorts over the past five hundred years, and controlling the third largest merchants’ guild in the world, aside from the two national guilds owned by the Dayan Dynasty and the Imperial Family.

The rise of the Prime Minister’s Mansion to its current status owes much to the support of the Feng Family.

Li Junqing let out a long sigh, his voice stretching out:

"Knowing this, do you also know where those descendants of the Feng Family are now?"

Xu Yuan’s eyes showed a trace of contemplation:

"Most of them live in the ancestral home of the Feng Family at the base of Jingya Mountain."

Li Junqing shook his head:

"Changtian...

"I mean, why are there none of the Feng Family from the Imperial Capital still in the Imperial Capital now?

"Hmm... not counting your maternal uncle, though he has the Feng surname, he’s not handling affairs."

"...." Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

Li Junqing’s chuckle was tinged with sentimentality:

"It seems you don’t know, do you?"

"....."

Xu Yuan’s gaze dropped slightly.

As the primary private heir, he naturally had read many stories of his paternal generation. However, this particular Chapter of the Prime Minister’s Mansion’s past was merely glossed over in the confidential records.

After pondering for a long while, Xu Yuan patted his robe, and in the courtyard’s snowy pavilion:

"I’ve heard something about it, but the Prime Minister’s Mansion’s confidential annals don’t record much."

Li Junqing stood still and, upon hearing that, his laugh was quite sly:

"That’s because your father cleaned out all those disobedient old antiques of the Feng Family.

"Hmm... your grandfathers, a dozen uncles and aunts, even those cousins still in their swaddling clothes, if they posed a threat, Minister Xu cleared them out without sparing any.

"So Changtian... the love and affection in your family now is built upon the bloodshed and downfall of the Feng Family."

"...."

Xu Yuan subconsciously stopped in his tracks and turned his calm gaze back:

"Why... are you telling me this?"

Li Junqing grinned, his eyes dark and profound:

"I just think that in some matters, Changtian, your understanding is still not thorough enough. If it continues like this, you are unlikely to become the next Minister Xu."

"...."

Suddenly, silence.

In the still of the night, a quiet laugh seemed out of place.

Xu Yuan fixed his gaze on him:

"Yunqing, is our relationship... really that good?"

Li Junqing also smiled and shook his head:

"No, but I think in some ways we are similar, so I hope you can make it to the end."

"If that’s the case, why don’t you enter the fray yourself?"

"Because I’m afraid of death."

"...." Xu Yuan

Looking at the other’s roguish expression, Xu Yuan’s narrow phoenix eyes narrowed slightly.

Afraid of death, is that the truth?

Maybe it is, but more likely, it’s not.

With a sigh, Xu Yuan murmured with a low laugh:

"Then thank you, Yunqing, for the warning."

As he said that, Xu Yuan’s tone dropped slightly, glancing at the dark expanse of sky:

"But you are overthinking,

"In life, one must have things they stand for, and things they do not."

Li Junqing snorted laughingly, his tone somewhat mocking:

"Third Young Master, you can say that now because you have a choice. When you don’t have one, all talk of do’s and don’ts becomes empty words."

Xu Yuan’s eyes flickered for a moment, he didn’t deny it:

"Perhaps so, but there should always be a bottom line..."

After a moment of silence,

Xu Yuan then looked at him as if he had thought of something and with a strange expression, asked:

"Li Junqing, all this sudden heart-to-heart... isn’t because you’re scared I won’t take you back to the capital?"

"....." Li Junqing.

After a few seconds of silence, Li Junqing immediately denied it:

"No, not at all, how could that be?"

"..."

Xu Yuan turned and walked towards the mansion’s gate without looking back, waving his hand dismissively:

"Heh, no need for pleasantries, I’m off."

"Ahem, so about us brothers going back to the capital..."

"Tsk, keep complaining, and see what happens. You’d better go keep your sweetheart company."

"..."

Li Junqing stopped talking, watching Xu Yuan’s figure disappear around the gate’s corner, then he chuckled and went straight indoors.